Client relationship management and product distribution system and method

ABSTRACT

A method of distributing hair care or cosmetic products where a salon owner, stylist or booth renter can procure hair care or cosmetic products including hair dyes from a vending device located within the salon as needed at the point of use. The transaction data representing the product purchased, identification of the purchaser, location of the vending device and like is transmitted to a central computer over a communications network. The central computer updates inventory data of the vending device based on the transaction data and if necessary, schedules delivery to the vending device based on the updated inventory data. Additionally, apart from inventory control, the transaction data can be used to follow fashion trends in the hair care and cosmetics fields.

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation of pending U.S. provisionalpatent application Serial No. 60/406,371 filed on Aug. 26, 2002, whichis incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of productdistribution system, namely distributing hair care and cosmetic productsto hair and beauty care professionals.

[0003] Typically, hair and beauty care professionals must stock varioushair care and cosmetic products to service their customers. Theinventory of the various hair care and cosmetic products must besufficient to last a predetermined period of time, such as a day, week,month, etc. Accordingly, there is a risk that either some of inventorywill never get used, become outdated or stale or that a certain productwill be out of stock causing a lost sale. Thus, the hair care orcosmetic professional bears all the risk in managing the inventory ofhair care and cosmetic products. Therefore, it is desirable to provide aproduct distribution method, which shifts the burden of managing theinventory of hair and beauty care products to the manufacturer ordistributor.

[0004] Currently, hair care and cosmetic manufacturers fill finishedhair care and cosmetic products into small disposable aluminum tubes andplastic containers at the manufacturing site. The hair care and cosmeticmanufacturer then distributes the finished hair care and cosmeticproducts in disposable containers to individual retail outlets andsalons via a direct sales force, wholesale dealer or distributors.Generally, no change in the product can occur after the finished haircare and cosmetic product leaves the hair care and cosmeticmanufacturer. For instance, the number of colors/shades offered for aparticular hair care or cosmetic product can be significantly large,e.g., Koleston Perfect® permanent hair creme color is available in over130 shades. Thus, the salon owner or stylist could stock over 130different shades to carry a complete line of Koleston Perfect® permanenthair creme color. Accordingly, current inventory management isinefficient in terms of space utilization and greatly maximizes the riskthat some of inventory will never get used, become outdated or go stale.Therefore, it is highly desirable to provide a vending system and methodwhich enables the professional hair or beauty care stylist to procurecustomized hair care or cosmetic products as needed on demand at thepoint-of-use. This enables the salon owner, cosmetic professional orstylist to offer a complete line of hair care and/or cosmetic productswithout incurring the inventory costs and space issues associated withstocking the entire line of hair care or cosmetic products.

[0005] In certain sectors of the hair and beauty care business, a haircare or cosmetic professional rents a booth, chair or space from a salonowner. These hair care professionals are called booth renters. Forexample, the hairdressers typically procure their hair care products,such as hair dyes, from the direct sales force or beauty supply store.Accordingly, the hairdressers typically must know their customer's haircare requirements on appointment, and must overstock in advance toproperly procure the necessary hair care products for walk-in customersand to accommodate last minute changes, such as dying hair blondeinstead of red. Additionally, booth renters may work at odd hours wherethey cannot get deliveries. Therefore, it is desirable to provide aproduct distribution method, which permits the cosmetic professionals toprocure the requisite cosmetic products as needed on demand at thepoint-of-use, i.e., at the hair salon servicing a customer.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide aproduct distribution system and method which solves the above-notedproblems.

[0007] It is also an object of the present invention to provide a methodof distributing hair care or cosmetic products on demand at thepoint-of-use, including the steps of installing a vending device andlogical system which electronically transmits inventory data to acentral database thus ensuring efficient restocking according to fashiontrends in a salon; purchasing one or more hair care or cosmetic productsfrom the vending device by a professional hair or beauty care boothrenters which generates transaction data; transmitting the transactiondata to a central computer over a communications network; updatinginventory data of the vending device based on the transaction data; andscheduling restocking to the vending device based on the updatedinventory data according to fashion trends.

[0008] It is another object of the present invention to provide a methodof managing client relationships and distributing hair care and cosmeticproducts on demand at the point-of-use, including the steps ofinstalling a vending device in a salon; accessing the vending device byan booth renter to purchase one or more hair care or cosmetic products;authenticating the booth renter to determine if the booth renter isauthorized to access the vending device; and dispensing one or more haircare and cosmetic products to the booth renter if it is determined thatthe booth renter is authorized to access the vending device.

[0009] It is still another object of the present invention to provide amethod of distributing a customized hair care or cosmetic productshaving a plurality of shades at a point-of-use to a booth renter,including the steps of selecting a shade of the hair care or cosmeticproduct by the professional user; determining an amount of each basestock color required to prepare the shade selected by said professionaluser; dispensing determined amount of the respective base stock colorinto a tray to provide the selected shade of hair care or cosmeticproduct; and delivering the tray, preferably disposable, containing theprepared hair care or cosmetic product at the point-of-use to theprofessional user.

[0010] It is a further object of the present invention to provide avending apparatus for distributing a customized hair care or cosmeticproduct having a plurality of shades at a point-of-use to a professionaluser, comprising a user interface for selecting a shade of the hair careor cosmetic product by the professional user; a processor fordetermining an amount of each base stock color required to prepare theshade selected by said professional user; a plurality of reservoirs,each containing different base stock color of the hair care or cosmeticproduct, for dispensing determined amount of the respective base stockcolor into a tray to provide the selected shade of the hair care orcosmetic product; and a dispensing device for delivering said traycontaining the prepared hair care or cosmetic product at thepoint-of-use to the professional user.

[0011] It is also an object of the present invention to provide a methodof distributing hair color products on demand at the point-of-use,including the steps of installing a vending device and logical systemwhich electronically transmits inventory data to a central database thusensuring efficient restocking according to fashion trends in a salon;purchasing one or more hair color products from the vending device by aprofessional user which generates transaction data; transmitting thetransaction data to a central computer over a communications network;updating inventory data of the vending device based on the transactiondata; and scheduling restocking to the vending device based on theupdated inventory data according to fashion trends. Hair color productsare especially suited for the present invention because changing fashiontrends would require professional users and booth renters to store manyshades of color with the associated risk of inventory going stale.Additionally, in many locations hair color products are regulated suchthat only licensed cosmologists can purchase and use such products.Embodiments of the above invention can include an interface allowingonly properly licensed users to purchase hair color products such as byrequiring a pin number or other access restrictive system.

[0012] Various other objects of the present invention will becomereadily apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The following detailed description, given by way of example, andnot intended to limit the present invention solely thereto, will be bestunderstood in conjunction with the accompany drawings:

[0014]FIG. 1 shows an example of a vending device that can be adaptedfor use in the product distribution method and system in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control panel of the vending deviceof FIG. 1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of components of the vending device ofFIG. 1;

[0017]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the product distribution method inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the client management and productdistribution method in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0019]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a vending apparatus in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0020]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method of distributing a customizedhair care or cosmetic product in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, theproduct distribution method, provides a vending device in conjunctionwith a logistics system to enable the professional hair or beauty careprovider to procure the hair care or cosmetic products on demand at thepoint-of-use. That is, for example, a vending device can be located in ahair salon to permit the hair stylist or hairdresser to procure therequisite hair care product as needed on demand. The vending device caninclude a mechanical interface comprising a currency acceptancemechanism (coin slot and/or bill slot), a series of push buttons, aproduct dispenser, and a coin return. Preferably, the vending deviceincludes a device for accepting credit/debit card or smart card.Generally, the credit/debit card device communicates with a remotecredit verification facility to process the credit/debit cardtransaction.

[0022] Turning now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an example of avending device that can be adapted for use in the product distributionsystem and method in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. A vending device 100 comprises a housing 110 with a controlpanel 200 and a clear panel 160 that allows a salon owner or stylist tosee the products 120 for sale and labels 170 indicating the price of thecorresponding product. It is appreciated that for hair dye products, thelabels 170 can additionally include color swatches for the correspondinghair dye products. The control panel 200 comprises a bill slot 210, acoin slot 220, and a product selector 240. The vending device 200 mayinclude coin return 230 for providing change to operator of the vendingdevice 200, such as the salon owner or stylist. It is appreciated thatthe bill slot 210, the coin slot 220 and the coin return 230 are wellknown in the art, and any known bill and coin payment mechanism can beused with the present invention.

[0023] The operation of the product distribution system is described inconjunction with FIGS. 3 and 4. A control circuitry or processor 150(along with any software) of the vending device 100 receives the salonowner's or stylist's payment information via the bill slot 210 and/orcoin slot 220 in step 400, and salon owner's or stylist's productselections from the product selector 240 in step 410. For example, forhair dye products, a color swatch can be placed next to each product toidentify the color/shade of the hair dye product, thereby enabling thestylist to quickly identify and select the desired product from thevending device 100. The processor 150 determines if sufficient amount ofmoney has been provided to cover the cost of purchase in step 420. Ifthe processor 150 determines that the salon owner or stylist hasprovided sufficient amount to cover the cost of the purchase, theprocessor 150 of the vending device 100 causes a product dispensingmechanism 270 to dispense or deliver the selected product to adispensing bin 130 in step 430. It is appreciated that if the processor150 determines that the salon owner or stylist has provided payment inexcess of the cost of the purchase, then the processor 150 can instructthe coin return 230 to provide the overage to the salon owner orstylist. The salon owner or stylist then removes the vended hair care orcosmetic product 120 from the dispensing bin 130 for use in servicinghis/her customer. Otherwise, the processor 150 displays a message, suchas “insufficient fund” or other comparable message to the salon owner orstylist on a display device 260 in step 440. The processor 150 waits foradditional payment information from the salon owner or stylist via thebill slot 210 or coin slot 220 in step 450 and returns to step 420.

[0024] Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the control panel 200 mayadditionally include a card reader 250 and a receipt printer 280 forprinting a receipt of the credit or debit card transaction. The displaydevice 260 for displaying text or a combination of text and graphics ispreferably a liquid crystal display (LCD). The product selector 240 canbe a series of buttons, a keypad and the like. Preferably, the productselector 240 is a keypad for entering data, such as a pin number forpurchasing the product using a debit card. In accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, the keypad can be integrated into atouch-responsive display device 260. The display device 260 is used toprompt the operator, i.e., salon owner or stylist, for input, such asthe desired hair product selection, which can be entered via the keypad240. The data obtained from the keypad 240 as well as the card reader istransmitted to a remote card verification facility 350 for credit cardverification. Alternatively, the data can be transmitted to a centralcomputer 300 for credit card verification and/or updating the inventorydata.

[0025] To purchase a product from the vending device 100, depending onthe type of the card reader, the salon owner or stylist can either swipeor insert his/her credit or debit card into the card reader 250. It isappreciated that the card reader 250 can also read a smart card or apre-paid card. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, the processor is operable to verify and initiate the fundcollection from the credit and debit card companies, such as AmericanExpress, Visa, MasterCard, etc. Alternatively, the vending device 100transmits the credit or debit card information to a central computer 300over a communications network 310, such as the Internet, LAN, WAN,wireless network, etc., for verifying and initiating fund collectionfrom the credit and debit card companies. The processor 150 or thecentral computer 300 can inform the purchaser, i.e., the salon owner orstylist, of the status of credit or debit card verification bydisplaying such status information on the display device 260.

[0026] After the hair care product is dispensed to the salon owner orstylist, the vending device 100 transmits the transaction data, such asproduct sku number, location of the vending device, etc., to the centralcomputer 300 over the communications network 310 in step 460. Uponreceipt of the transaction data, the central computer 300 updates theinventory data of the vending device 100 in step 470 and if necessary,delivery to the vending device (i.e., the associated hair or beautysalon) is automatically scheduled for restocking in step 480. It isappreciated that the transaction data additionally provides immediatefeedback as to the market acceptance of a particular hair care orcosmetic product and/or market acceptance of a particular shade withinthe hair care or cosmetic product line. Also, the manufacturer and/ordistributor can determine customer trends based on the transaction data,generating sales report based on transactions data, such as demographics(location, age, etc.) and the like.

[0027] Turning now to FIG. 5, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, the product distribution system and method insuresthat professional line of hair care and cosmetic products are sold toonly hair and beauty care professionals, such as beauty and/or hairsalon owners, stylists, hairdressers and the like. That is, hair careand cosmetic manufacturers may have certain agreements with theirdistributor that restrict them from selling certain hair care andcosmetic product lines directly to the consumers. Thus, in order tocomply with such business agreement, the manufacturers must take stepsto insure that their hair care and cosmetic products are sold only tohair and beauty care professionals. That is, the present productdistribution system and method provides a security mechanism to insurethat the hair care and cosmetic products in the vending device 100 issold only to hair and beauty care professionals. Accordingly, thepresent product distribution system and method locates the vendingdevices in hair and beauty salons, preferably away from salon customers,for use by hair and beauty care professionals in servicing theircustomers in step 500. The operator can attempt to access the vendingdevice 100 by providing payment information, such as by either insertingappropriate currency bills and/or coins into the bill slot 210 and/orcoin slot 220 or inserting a credit or debit card into the card reader250, and entering the desired product selection on the product selector240 in step 510. The processor 150 determines if sufficient amount ofmoney has been provided to cover the cost of purchase in step 520. Ifthe processor 150 determines that the operator has not providedsufficient amount to cover the cost of purchase, the processor 150optionally displays a message, such as “insufficient fund” or othercomparable message, to the operator on the display device 260 in step525 and returns to step 526 for additional payment information from theoperator via the bill slot 210, coin slot 220 or card reader 250 in step526.

[0028] However, if processor 150 determines that the operator hasprovided sufficient amount to cover the cost of the purchase, then theprocessor 150 authenticates or verifies if the operator is an authorizeduser (i.e., salon owner, stylist, etc.) of the vending device 100 instep 530. That is, the processor 150 can request the operator to providea valid personal identification number (“pin”)/password or insert avalid identification card into the card reader 250 in step 530. It isappreciated that any known method of verifying whether an operator isauthorized can be used. If the processor 150 determines that theoperator is an authorized user, then the processor 150 causes theproduct dispensing mechanism 270 to deliver or dispense the selectedproduct to the dispensing bin 130 in step 540. It is appreciated that ifthe processor 150 determines that the salon owner or stylist hasprovided payment in excess of the cost of the purchase, then theprocessor 150 can instruct the coin return 230 to provide the overage tothe salon owner or stylist. The salon owner or stylist then removes thevended hair care or cosmetic product 120 from the dispensing bin 130 foruse in servicing his/her customer. However, if the processor 150determines that the operator is not authorized user, then the processor150 displays an error message, such as “invalid pin number”, on thedisplay device 260 in step 550.

[0029] Alternatively, the operator can be required to provide a validpin number or password, or insert a valid identification card to accessthe vending device 100. That is, the product selector 240 can bedisabled until a valid pin number/password or identification isprovided.

[0030] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, thevending system displays one or more product correlating with theprofessional hair or beauty care provider's task at hand. That is, forexample, the hairdresser enters various information, such as customer'shair type, current hair color, age, desired hair color, etc., via theinteractive keypad 240 and the vending system generates and displays alist of appropriate products that the hairdresser can purchase toachieve the desired result with customer's hair on the display device260. Also, the hairdresser can provide customer's current hair situationand the desired outcome or look using the interactive keypad 240 of thevending system, e.g., the customer is currently a straight hair brunetteand desires to have a thick blond permed hair. The vending system thendisplays a list of appropriate products to achieve desired result on thedisplay device 260 or provides a hard copy of the list via the receiptprinter 280. Alternatively, the vending system can interactively providea series of questions to the hair dresser and select one or moreappropriate product based on the hairdresser's answers to the series ofquestions.

[0031] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, theinventive vending system and method prepares and dispenses customizedhair care or cosmetic products at the point-of-sale or point-of-usebased on the professional user's selection (e.g., hair or beauty careprofessional). For example, hair care professionals have little, if any,storage space in which to store all the necessary hair dye productswhich come in numerous different colors and shades. Additionally,walk-in customers and customers wanting to change their usual hair caretreatment make it difficult to plan for a set inventory of hair careproducts. The vending system and method of the present invention enablesthe hair care professional to stock limited number of base colors fromwhich every available hair colors/shades can be prepared.

[0032] Turning now to FIG. 6, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, the vending device 600 includes a plurality ofreservoirs 610A-C, each holding a base stock color dye (such as red,yellow and blue dyes). Although only three reservoirs 610A-C are shownin FIG. 6 for simplicity, the present invention contemplates any numberof reservoirs. The hairdresser or hair stylist selects the desired haircolor dye and the vending device 100 prepares the desired hair color dyefrom a pre-specified combination of one or more base stock color dyeassociated with the hairdresser's selection. The vending device thendispenses the prepared hair dye in a tray or container 630 for use bythe hairdresser. Preferably, the tray or container is disposable andmade of sturdy material, such as plastic. The hairdresser can manuallymix the dispensed hair dye consisting of a predetermined combination ofbase stock colors to obtain the desired color or the vending device canautomatically mix prepared hair dye to obtain the desired color beforedispensing it to the hair dresser. That is, the vending device 600 canadditionally include a mixing device for mixing the dispensed dyeconsisting of a predetermined combination base stock colors into thedesired hair color dye. To prevent color contamination, each base stockcolor reservoir 610 includes a separate nozzle or funnel 620 forproviding the requisite amount of the base stock color dye into the trayor container.

[0033] The operation of the vending device 600 is now described inconjunction with a flowchart in FIG. 7. The hairdresser provides paymentinformation by either inserting appropriate currency bills and/or coinsinto the bill slot 210 and/or coin slot 220, or inserting a credit ordebit card into the card reader 250 in step 700. The hairdresser thenenters the product sku number or other comparable product identificationnumber into the keypad or product selector 240 to purchase the desiredhair dye product in step 710. It is appreciated that the hairdresser canobtain the product sku number from the product color chart.

[0034] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the hairdresser can view various color swatches of the product on the displaydevice 260 and can select the appropriate color swatch to purchase thedesired hair color dye using the keypad or product selector 240 in step710. That is, the display device 260 displays the color swatchesmatching the available colors/shades of hair dyes from a particular lineof hair dye product, such as Kolsten Perfect® permanent hair cremecolor, to the hairdresser who can scroll through various color swatchesto select the desired color using the keypad 240.

[0035] The processor 150 determines if sufficient amount of money hasbeen provided to cover the cost of purchase in step 720. If theprocessor 150 determines that the operator has not provided sufficientamount to cover the cost of purchase, the processor 150 displays amessage, such as “insufficient fund” or other comparable message, to thehairdresser on the display device 260 in step 730 and returns to step710 for additional payment information.

[0036] However, if the processor 150 determines that the hairdresser hasprovided sufficient amount to cover the cost of the purchase, then theprocessor 150 determines the amount of each base stock color dye 640A-Crequired to prepare the particular hair color dye selected by thehairdresser in step 740 and causes each base stock color reservoir 610to dispense the requisite or determined amount of the respective basestock color dye 640A-C into the tray 630 via the respective nozzle 620in step 750. To prevent potential color contamination, each base stockcolor reservoir includes a separate nozzle or funnel 620 for providingthe requisite amount of the base stock color dye into the tray orcontainer. It is appreciated that the processor 150 can access a tablestored in memory (not shown) based on the hairdresser's selection todetermine the amount of each base stock color dye 640A-C required toprepare the requested hair dye.

[0037] The vending device 600 then dispenses the requested hair dye 640in the tray 630 for use by the hairdresser in step 770. Preferably, thetray 630 is disposable and made of sturdy material, such as plastic. Thehairdresser can manually mix the dispensed hair dye 640 consisting of apredetermined combination of base stock colors 640A-C to obtain thedesired color or the vending device 600 can automatically mix preparedhair dye to obtain the desired color before dispensing it to thehairdresser 760. That is, the vending device 600 can additionallyinclude a mixing device (not shown) for mixing the dispensed dye 640consisting of a predetermined combination base stock colors 640A-C intothe desired hair color dye.

[0038] While the present invention has been particularly described withrespect to the illustrated embodiment, it will be appreciated thatvarious alterations, modifications and adaptations may be made on thepresent disclosure, and are intended to be within the scope of thepresent invention. It is intended that the appended claims beinterpreted as including the embodiment discussed above, those variousalternatives, which have been described, and all equivalents thereto.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of distributing hair care or cosmeticproducts on demand at the point-of-use, comprising the steps of:locating a vending device in a salon; purchasing one or more hair careor cosmetic products from said vending device by a professional hair orbeauty care provider to provide transaction data; transmitting saidtransaction data to a central computer over a communications network;updating inventory data for said vending device based on saidtransaction data; and scheduling delivery based on said updatedinventory data.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of purchasingcomprises the step of authenticating said professional hair or beautycare provider to determine if said professional hair or beauty careprovider is authorized to access said vending device.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of dispensing said one or more haircare or cosmetic products.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the step ofpurchasing comprises the step of receiving payment information from saidprofessional hair or beauty care provider and verifying said paymentinformation is sufficient to cover the cost of said one or more haircare or cosmetic products.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprisingthe step of dispensing said one or more hair care or cosmetic productsif it is determined that said payment information is sufficient to coverthe cost of said one or more hair care or cosmetic products.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, further comprising the steps of displaying aninsufficient fund message and inhibiting said one or more hair care orcosmetic products from being dispensed if it is determined that saidpayment information is insufficient to cover the cost of said one ormore hair care or cosmetic products.
 7. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising the step of printing a receipt for said one or more hair careor cosmetic products purchased by said profession hair or beauty careprovider.
 8. A method of managing client relationships and distributinghair care and cosmetic products on demand at the point-of-use,comprising the steps of: locating a vending device in a salon; accessingsaid vending device by an operator to purchase one or more hair care orcosmetic products; authenticating said operator to determine if saidoperator is authorized to access said vending device; and dispensingsaid one or more hair care or cosmetic products to said operator if itis determined that said operator is authorized to access said vendingdevice.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:receiving payment information from said operator; and verifying saidpayment information is sufficient to cover the cost of said one or morehair care or cosmetic products.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising the steps of displaying an insufficient fund message andinhibiting said one or more hair care or cosmetic products from beingdispensed if it is determined that said payment information isinsufficient to cover the cost of said one or more hair care or cosmeticproducts.
 11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step ofprinting a receipt for said one or more hair care or cosmetic productspurchased by said operator if it is determined that said operator isauthorized to access said vending device.
 12. A method of distributing acustomized hair care or cosmetic product having a plurality of shades ata point-of-use to a professional user, comprising the steps of:selecting a shade from said plurality of shades associated with saidhair care or cosmetic product by said professional user; determining anamount of each base stock color required to prepare said shade selectedby said professional user; delivering said tray containing said preparedhair care or cosmetic product at the point-of-use to said professionaluser.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of mixingsaid prepared hair care or cosmetic product prior to delivering saidtray containing said prepared hair care or cosmetic product to saidprofessional user.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising thesteps of: receiving payment information from said professional user; andverifying said payment information is sufficient to cover the cost ofsaid hair care or cosmetic product.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising the steps of displaying an insufficient fund message if it isdetermined that said payment information is insufficient to cover thecost of said hair care or cosmetic product.
 16. The method of claim 12,wherein the step of selecting comprises the step of receiving a productsku number from said professional user.
 17. The method of claim 12,wherein the step of selecting comprises the step of displaying a set ofsaid plurality of shades at a time on a display device to saidprofessional user.
 18. The method of 12, further comprising the step ofprinting a receipt for said prepared hair care or cosmetic product. 19.A vending apparatus for distributing a customized hair care or cosmeticproduct having a plurality of shades at a point-of-use to a professionaluser, comprising: a user interface for selecting a shade from saidplurality of shades associated with said hair care or cosmetic productby said professional user; a processor for determining an amount of eachbase stock color required to prepare said shade selected by saidprofessional user; a plurality of reservoirs, each containing differentbase stock color of said hair care or cosmetic product, for dispensingdetermined amount of the respective base stock color into a tray toprovide said shade of said hair care or cosmetic product; and adispensing device for delivering said tray containing said prepared haircare or cosmetic product at the point-of-use to said professional user.20. The vending apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a mixingdevice for mixing said prepared hair care or cosmetic product.
 21. Thevending apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a device for receivingpayment information from said professional user; and wherein saidprocessor is operable to verify said payment information is sufficientto cover the cost of said hair care or cosmetic product.
 22. The vendingapparatus of claim 21, further comprising a display device fordisplaying an insufficient fund message if it is determined that saidpayment information is insufficient to cover the cost of said hair careor cosmetic product.
 23. The vending apparatus of claim 19, wherein saiduser interface is a keypad and said keypad is operable to receive aproduct sku number from said professional user.
 24. The vendingapparatus of claim 19, wherein said display device is operable to a setof said plurality of shades at a time on said display device to saidprofessional user; and wherein said keypad is operable by saidprofessional user to select said shade from said set of said pluralityshades displayed on said display device.
 25. The vending apparatus ofclaim 19, wherein said hair care or cosmetic product is a hair dyeproduct.
 26. The vending apparatus of claim 19, further comprising aprinter for printing a receipt for said prepared hair care or cosmeticproduct.
 27. A method of distributing hair color products on demand atthe point-of-use, comprising the steps of: locating a vending device ina salon; purchasing one or more hair color products from said vendingdevice by a cosmologists or other licensed hair care provider to providetransaction data; transmitting said transaction data to a centralcomputer over a communications network; updating inventory data for saidvending device based on said transaction data; and scheduling deliverybased on said updated inventory data.
 28. The method of claim 27,wherein the step of purchasing comprises the step of authenticating saidcosmologists or other licensed hair care provider to determine if saidcosmologists or other licensed hair care provider is authorized toaccess said vending device.
 29. The method of claim 27, furthercomprising the step of dispensing said one or more hair color products.30. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of purchasing comprises thestep of receiving payment information from said cosmologists or otherlicensed hair care provider and verifying said payment information issufficient to cover the cost of said one or more hair color products.31. The method of claim 30, further comprising the step of dispensingsaid one or more hair color products if it is determined that saidpayment information is sufficient to cover the cost of said one or morehair color products.
 32. The method of claim 31, further comprising thesteps of displaying an insufficient fund message and inhibiting said oneor more hair color products from being dispensed if it is determinedthat said payment information is insufficient to cover the cost of saidone or more hair color products.
 33. The method of claim 31, furthercomprising the step of printing a receipt for said one or more haircolor products purchased by said cosmologists or other licensed haircare provider.
 34. A method of managing client relationships anddistributing hair color products on demand at the point-of-use,comprising the steps of: locating a vending device in a salon; accessingsaid vending device by an operator to purchase one or more hair colorproducts; authenticating said operator to determine if said operator isauthorized to access said vending device; and dispensing said one ormore hair color products to said operator if it is determined that saidoperator is authorized to access said vending device.
 35. The method ofclaim 34, further comprising the steps of: receiving payment informationfrom said operator; and verifying said payment information is sufficientto cover the cost of said one or more hair color products.
 36. Themethod of claim 35, further comprising the steps of displaying aninsufficient fund message and inhibiting said one or more hair colorproducts from being dispensed if it is determined that said paymentinformation is insufficient to cover the cost of said one or more haircolor products.
 37. The method of claim 34, further comprising the stepof printing a receipt for said one or more hair color products purchasedby said operator if it is determined that said operator is authorized toaccess said vending device.
 38. A method of distributing a customizedhair color product having a plurality of shades at a point-of-use to aprofessional user, comprising the steps of: selecting a hair color shadefrom said plurality of shades associated with said hair color product bysaid professional user; determining an amount of each base stock colorrequired to prepare said shade selected by said professional user;delivering said tray containing said prepared hair care or cosmeticproduct at the point-of-use to said professional user.
 39. The method ofclaim 29, further comprising the steps of mixing said prepared haircolor product prior to delivering said tray containing said preparedhair color product to said professional user.
 40. The method of claim29, further comprising the steps of: receiving payment information fromsaid professional user; and verifying said payment information issufficient to cover the cost of said hair color product.
 41. The methodof claim 31, further comprising the steps of displaying an insufficientfund message if it is determined that said payment information isinsufficient to cover the cost of said hair color product.
 42. Themethod of claim 29, wherein the step of selecting comprises the step ofreceiving a product sku number from said professional user.
 43. Themethod of claim 29, wherein the step of selecting comprises the step ofdisplaying a set of said plurality of shades at a time on a displaydevice to said professional user.
 44. The method of 29, furthercomprising the step of printing a receipt for said prepared hair colorproduct.
 45. A vending apparatus for distributing a customized haircolor product having a plurality of shades at a point-of-use to aprofessional user, comprising: a user interface for selecting a shadefrom said plurality of shades associated with said hair color product bysaid professional user; a processor for determining an amount of eachbase stock color required to prepare said shade selected by saidprofessional user; a plurality of reservoirs, each containing differentbase stock color of said hair color products, for dispensing determinedamount of the respective base stock color into a tray to provide saidshade of said hair color product; and a dispensing device for deliveringsaid tray containing said prepared hair color product at thepoint-of-use to said professional user.
 46. The vending apparatus ofclaim 45, further comprising a mixing device for mixing said preparedhair color product.
 47. The vending apparatus of claim 45, furthercomprising a device for receiving payment information from saidprofessional user; and wherein said processor is operable to verify saidpayment information is sufficient to cover the cost of said hair colorproduct.
 48. The vending apparatus of claim 47, further comprising adisplay device for displaying an insufficient fund message if it isdetermined that said payment information is insufficient to cover thecost of said hair color product.
 49. The vending apparatus of claim 45,wherein said user interface is a keypad and said keypad is operable toreceive a product sku number from said professional user.
 50. Thevending apparatus of claim 45, wherein said display device is operableto a set of said plurality of shades at a time on said display device tosaid professional user; and wherein said keypad is operable by saidprofessional user to select said shade from said set of said pluralityshades displayed on said display device.
 51. The vending apparatus ofclaim 45, further comprising a printer for printing a receipt for saidprepared hair color product.